Shinigami Stories
by Icka M. Chif
Summary: [Alternate Universe] Not everyone is as human as they may seem. Now up: 'Outside', Hakuba watches.
1. Flashback before story arc Inuyasha Cros...

Thanks goes to Alex, who suggested an Inuyasha crossover. It kinda stuck.  
  
Note:  
This takes place BEFORE the rest of the Shinigami Stories. Ran is still human.  
  
A Flashback  
by Icka! M. Chif  
  
"You smell of blood."  
  
The white haired hanyou spun at the unexpected voice, one hand resting on his katana hilt. A small boy he hadn't heard walk up on him looked at him seriously from behind a pair of glasses. The two paused, sizing each other up.  
  
"You reek of death." The hanyou growled back. The boy smirked, small dark wisps spinning around him to reveal his in-human features. Pointed ears, fangs, stilted pupils, and a pair of bat wings on his back.   
  
"Good nose." He commented. The other grunted, resuming watching the ningen wander around below him, one ear cocked in the smaller youko's direction. The Shinigami smiled and joined him at the roof top edge.   
  
"You're looking for Shikon no Tama shards, aren't you?" He asked calmly.  
  
The larger one turned violently, pulling out his sword and transforming it in one smooth motion, pointing it at the smaller youkai. "Whoa! Whoa!" The Shinigami held his hands up in an appeasing gesture. "Relax!"  
  
"What do you know about the Shikon no Tama?" The Hanyou growled.   
  
"A hanyou named Inuyasha and a miko are looking for it." The Shinigami explained, a bead of sweat trickling down the back of his head. "You fit the description, that's all."  
  
There was more to it than that, of course. But one does not mention it when one had a very large sword pointed at one's neck.  
  
"I am Inuyasha." The hanyou verified, relaxing his guard a bit.   
  
"Shin'ichi." The Shinigami introduced himself. "Where's your Miko?"   
  
"At 'School'." The distain in his voice was obvious, causing Shin'ichi to smile.   
  
"I have a shard of the Shi-"  
  
"Give it to me!" Inuyasha picked up the Shinigami by the back of the collar and started inspecting his pockets, the sword miraculously back in it's scabbard.  
  
"Stop that!" Shin'ichi howled, wiggling in his grasp. "I don't have it on me!"  
  
"Oh." Disinterested, Inuyasha abruptly released him. Wings flapping, Shin'ichi slowly sank to the ground, straighten his clothes on the way.  
  
"Are you CRAZY?" He demanded. "That thing's dangerous! The first time I touched it the neighbour's cat died!"  
  
"So?" Inuyasha grunted. "You're a Shinigami. That's what happens."  
  
"Not to -me-" Shin'ichi growled. "Just because Deaths follow me, doesn't mean I cause them."  
  
Inuyasha snorted. "So where is it?"  
  
"I gave it to a friend. They don't know they have it."  
  
"You did WHAT?"  
  
"Relax, it's in good hands. They're from a long line of mikos on the fathers side, and part Koorime on the mothers. If my influence can't harm them, the Shard shouldn't do anything either. And besides," He added with not just a touch of pride in his voice, "They could probably kick your butt, sword and all."  
  
"Feh." Inuyasha crossed his arms, once again looking un-impressed. "And where are they now?"  
  
"School." Shin'ichi admitted. Inuyasha smirked.  
  
"I think that must be a very evil place."  
  
"Oh, it is." Shin'ichi assured him. "They make you learn things and everything."  
  
Inuyasha's smirk faded into a glare.  
  
"Eheheheheh..." Shin'ichi laughed nervously, having sudden second thoughts on verbally sparing with the much larger youkai with a freaking huge sword. "So, what time does your miko get off of school?"  
  
"Couple of hours." Inuyasha resumed watching the ningen below.   
  
"Do you know of someplace where we could all meet?" He asked, inferring that 'someplace' was 'someplace safe and neutral'.  
  
Inuyasha pondered for a moment. "We're leaving at Sunset." He finally growled. "The Hiragashi Shrine."  
  
Shin'ichi got the impression that it wasn't exactly 'neutral' territory, but it was 'safe'. The Hiragashi Shrine must have a miko, after all. And if they were leaving at Sunset, that lead to idea that his miko must live at Hiragashi Shrine.  
  
"Alright. We'll be there as quickly as possible."  
  
Inuyasha snorted, as much as acknowledgement as he was going to get, he supposed. "How did you get the shard anyway?"  
  
"Off a corpse. They had been killed for it." He frowned, remembering that case. Fortunately, the ningen involved hadn't realised that they weren't dealing with humans. The Shard radiated an aura of almost un-resistible Power, he didn't want to think about what would have happened if one of the ningen or bakemono had picked it up.  
  
It also radiated an aura of Violence and Death, which he was more susceptible to. And that was why he was eager to give it to the one person who could purify it, and take it out of his hands.   
  
In the mean time, he was keeping a close watch on Ran. As he had told the half dog youkai, he didn't -think- the Shikon no Tama shard could do anything to her. If anything, he hoped that she might help start to cleanse it.  
  
"Figures." Inuyasha commented. "Anything else?"  
  
He shook his head, clearing both his thoughts and signalling a negative. "No. That's all."  
  
"Fine." The dog youkai jumped off the building, and disappeared into the distance.   
  
Shin'ichi snorted, shifting back into Conan before returning to the crowds below. "Friendly guy." He muttered.  
  
-Fin-  
  
Ningen = Human  
Hanyou = Half breed  
  
Um... that's as far as I can get. Voices kinda got distracted with other fics, then the Shinigami stories came along and this just... stopped. But the shard   
did get returned before 'Tomorrow' takes place.  
But it holds true with the rest of the Shinigami stories in a way.  
Who's to day that Ran carrying the Shikon no Tama didn't help to awaken her youkai abilities? 


	2. Shinigami Stories: Tomorrow Conan Shin'...

From 'Fic Surfing' :  
"But I'm a half breed too." He pointed out. "Really, Okasan. A Kitsune and a Tengu breeding? What were you two thinking?!"  
  
"How were we supposed to know you'd turn out to be a Shinigami?"  
  
Tomorrow.  
By Icka! M. Chif.  
  
She should have died hereafter;  
There would have been a time for such a word.  
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow  
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day  
~Macbeth, Macbeth V.V.19  
  
  
You know what the worst part about being a Shinigami is?  
  
Knowing when you or the ones around you will die.  
  
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow... As a human, everything rests on tomorrow. The grey unknown.  
  
The future is unknown to me for the most part as well. But there are certain things I do know, that only a Kami of Death is familiar with.  
  
When someone's life thread is about to be cut is one of them. Deaths, especially tragic ones, shine like a beacon to me. Proximity helps me to see those as well. That's why I'm always first at the scene when someone dies, to make the passing of their spirit from their body a little easier. I'm not always looking for clues. It's who I am, what I do. The energy I gain from doing so helps too.  
  
Proximity also allows me to see when a close one will die.  
  
To attempt to change that is to bring down disaster beyond comprehension. Everything must die, it's part of the cycle that keeps everything in balance. Even I am not so foolish to think that I can out smart that.  
  
What is that one gaijin phrase? Ah, yes. 'Eat, Drink and screw like crazed rabid weasels, for tomorrow we may die'. Ran would wash my mouth out with soap if she ever heard me use that one.  
  
But tomorrow I die.  
  
Or Ran does.  
  
I'm not quite sure right now, sometimes it's hard to tell when her threads stop and mine begin, but one of us will die tomorrow. All things considered I would prefer if I were the one to die.  
  
And it's not like I'll actually -die- die. It would take a lot more to kill me than it would most humans or youkai. It'll just mean another new beginning, like with this mix up with APTX-4896. And another trip to the JuOhCho. They do get so annoyed when they find out it's me again.  
  
It might be fun to join them in the Shoka Division for a while, Tatsumi keeps offering me a job there, even if I'm a true youko instead of a un-dead ningen. Personally, I think it's because it would be cheaper for his department if they had a detective in house instead of having to occasionally borrow one from a different department. Though I don't know if I could actually handle killing ningen, even if it is past time for them to leave this realm.  
  
And if Watari has finally figured out his sex-exchange potion, maybe I can stay in Tokyo, to keep an eye on Ran without her knowing it.  
  
Ran.  
  
Otousan and Okasan think that I spend too much time in the company of ningen, that I should stick with 'our kind'. And I suppose it is true, that I spend most of my time with the ningen. But then it's rather difficult to make friends when everyone knows that you can kill them just by sneezing wrong.  
  
Of course, Otousan and Okasan also the ones who left me to fend for myself as a kit so that they could go off and play with the ningen.  
  
And thanks to several ningen, most prominently Ran and Agasa, I've done alright. Being stuck looking my true age not included..  
  
But tomorrow...  
  
I don't want to say goodbye again. It was bad enough that I lost the ability to stay in my older form, but to loose both the scraps of my Shin'ichi life as well as my Conan life this soon hurts. The possibility always existed, but I had thought not for many more years.  
  
Loosing Ran is not a price I'm willing to pay for this life however.  
  
So when I wake up tomorrow, I shall put on my glasses, smile and act like the 'Conan-kun' everyone knows.  
  
And then, if I'm reading everything correctly, on our way home from school tomorrow afternoon I will die. Those around me will grieve, then move on with their lives, as it should be. And I will start over. Again.  
  
Tomorrow followed by tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...  
  
Fin.  
  
"Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,  
It seems to me most strange that men should fear,  
Seeing that death, a necessary end,  
Will come when it will come.  
~Caesar, Julius Caesar, II.II.34  
  
Notes:  
  
Ningen: Human  
Youkai/Youko: Deamon  
Gaijin: Foreign, out side of Japan.  
  
Yes, the JuOhCho, Tatsumi and Watari are all references to Yami no Matsuei. Couldn't help it! #^^#  
  
'Eat, Drink and screw like crazed rabid weasels, for tomorrow we may die' -that's the way I've heard it, anyway.  
You may be more familiar with 'Eat, Drink and Be Merry, for tomorrow we may die' though.  
  
I have no clue what the heck the Shakespeare quotes are doing here tho... they just kinda fell in. ^^;;  
  
Side note: I will post 'Yesterday', tomorrow. 


	3. Shinigami Stories: Yesterday Shin'ichi ...

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away,  
Now it looks as though they're here to stay,  
Oh I believe in yesterday.  
-Yesterday by Beatles  
  
Yesterday   
By Icka! M. Chif  
  
I died yesterday.  
  
Nothing went the way I expected it to, and yet I still ended up dying.  
  
Life is funny that way sometimes.  
  
It all started yesterday afternoon, with Ran, Sonoko and I walking home from school. It was a nice day, a bit overcast, and the girls were having fun chatting with each other. I'm still rather grateful that I was able to ditch the Child's Detective Force. They're nice kids and all, but there are certain things I'm not willing to let them see.  
  
Witnessing the death of a friend being one of them.  
  
Everything was fine, until we were crossing a small street. A horn started honking furiously, and people dove to get out of the way as a car careened through the intersection. Sonoko was out of the way, having danced ahead to the sidewalk while teasing Ran about something.  
  
Ran was standing right in it's path. I screamed, launching myself at her, attempting to push her out of the way. Instead, she turned at the sound of my voice and ended up catching me.  
  
Have I mentioned just how much I hate this smaller body?  
  
I think she was intending to toss me out of harm's way but I grabbed her coat from preventing her from doing so. If she was going to be splattered all over the front of a car, then I was going to be right there with her. A stupid sentiment perhaps, but we've always done everything together and I wasn't going to let something as trivial as getting hit by a car get in the way of that.  
  
There was just enough time to look up and see the wide-eyed panic in the drivers eyes, when everything... changed.  
  
The car suddenly skidded, slipping to the side to avoid us by a few feet and hit a pole, stopping. The noise and the panic of the previous seconds all seemed to completely -stop-, leaving only the heartbeat in my ears and the pulse of Ran's heart under the fabric of her coat.  
  
Then the driver's door opened and life resumed.  
  
Ran suddenly relaxed, pulling me close to her and wrapping her arms around me like she was hugging a large teddy bear or something. She was shaking, taking deep gulps of air to stay to prevent herself from crying. I was so relived that I nearly lost control of my form, so I didn't protest the opportunity to recover my composure.  
  
My heart nearly stopped again when I looked up and saw the street.  
  
The path the car had traveled was pretty clear, including where it had suddenly turned, sliding to the side.  
  
Right where a thin patch of ice was evaporating.  
  
The rest of the afternoon went by pretty much as expected. The police came, they took a statement and everyone went home. The driver's brakes had gone out, resulting in the accident. Miraculously, no one got seriously hurt.  
  
Which put me on edge. Death was still there, I could feelt it, almost taste it, but now I didn't know when. Ran was distant as well, to the extent that her father noticed. I worried about her.  
  
I should have worried more.  
  
It was past mid-night when I woke up shivering. The temperature had dropped to the point where I could see my breath when my eyes finally focused. Mouri-san was still snoring like a log, unmindful of the change in temperature.  
  
That was when I first heard it. "Shin'iiiiichi.... Shin'iiiiiiiiichi..." At first I thought is was a figment of my imagination. Then I realised that I could hear someone walking around outside the hall. Curious, I slipped out of bed and padded to the door, slipping on my glasses on the way. The floor was like ice, freezing my toes and the soles of my feet until I put on my houseshoes.  
  
The door opened easily and I slipped into the hall. Mist seemed to hover everwhere, adding a creepy atmosphere to the usually friendly house. A single set of footprints broke the frost on the ground, raising my suspicions. I cautiously followed them out to the living room, where the mist was the heaviest.  
  
Never let it be said that Ran is anything other than beautiful.  
  
I had forgotten until that minute about her dual ancestry. Her father's side were temple keepers up until a few generations ago, which is where his strong sense to protect comes from, no matter how misguided it is. Her mothers side however, has faint traces of Koorime in it, so many ancestors back that no-one even remembers.  
  
Shimmering with ice crystals, Ran seemed to transcend human beauty, becoming other worldly, even in her pyjamas. She was a 'Yuki Onna' in the purest sense of the term, a snow maiden.  
  
"Shin'iiiiiiiiiiichi..." She sang, holding her hands out towards me. "Come here, Shin'ichi."  
  
My father once told me that people of similar abilities are often called together without realising it. Psychics, Artists, Politicians, Youko, it makes no difference. There is a sub-conscious pull towards each other. It was probably one of the things that drew Ran and I together in the first place, her latent youkai ability.  
  
Well, it wasn't latent anymore. Something about the incident with the car had triggered her inherited abilities, probably for the first time in centuries. And for several heartbeats, I couldn't think. I find that tends to happen when I'm really close to her.  
  
"Ran?" I walked up to her, my fingertips brushing hers. They were so cold, as cold as death is said to be.  
  
"I've been waiting for you, Shin'ichi..." Ran whispered, drawing me closer. Up close, I could get a better look at her eyes. Beneath half lidded lashes, they were vacant, as if she were in a trance. The power was new to her, and had overwhelmed her. In layman's terms, she was on automatic pilot.  
  
"Shin'ichi..." She sing-sang again, running her fingers over my face before slipping my glasses off. I gulped, unable to back away due to her arm firmly around my waist. "I've been waiting for you, Shin'ichi..."  
  
It wasn't until her frozen hand reached back to hold the back of my head that I remembered why it is not a good idea to run across a Koorime.  
  
They are vampires.  
  
Legend has gone back an forth on if the gained energy from their victims by a white cloud of mist through their mouth or by drinking blood. Maybe it was her hanyou blood as opposed to a full Koorime, but by the way she was moving towards my neck, it was pretty clear which Ran preferred.  
  
And by that time her grip on me was so strong I couldn't have pulled away, even if I had wanted to.  
  
Contrary to popular mythos, you do not actually bite someone on their neck to drain them of blood. You go for the junction of neck and shoulder, right above the collar bone. Or the inside of the elbow, but that's not nearly as dramatic sounding. Not only is there a better blood flow there, you don't run the risk of crushing something that they might need to keep the blood flow going, such as the windpipe.  
  
One hand held the back of my head, moving it one way as the other slid up, moving the loose collar of my pyjamas the other direction, to bare my shoulder. I couldn't help but to shiver then, not because I was afraid she was going to hurt me, but because it was -cold-.  
  
Icy breath numbed the bared skin, so I didn't feel when her fangs sank in. There was a faint pulling sensation, then things got a little hazy. I remember wrapping my arms around her in an attempt to stay upright, then her cradling me like a small child as my heart slowed down, then stopped beating entirely.  
  
It's rather hard to kill a Shinigami, especially when we don't want to die. But it's still rather un-comfortable having your physical form being disrupted like that. When I became aware of things again, it was already mid-morning, and I was curled up on the couch with several blankets over me.  
  
Once Mouri-san finally stopped laughing at what ever television show he was watching, he informed me that Ran wasn't feeling very well, and that I was staying home sick today, due to the fact that I had been un-naturally cold and they hadn't been able to wake me up.  
  
I assured him that I had probably just caught a bit of a cold or something, and pretended like everything was normal again. Ran doesn't seem to remember anything from last night, and I'm hesitant to bring it up with her, in case it was a one time fluke.  
  
But if she has woken up to her Koorime abilities, that would explain why I thought she would die yesterday. In a way, she did. The accident changed her, so that she's no longer completely human like the way she was before.  
  
I think I'm glad this happened. I may not be able to go back to being Shin'ichi just yet, but at least I was able to remain as Conan with her.  
  
Besides, Otousan and Okasan -do- keep saying I need to spend more time with my own kind. I just don't think they meant it like this.  
  
Fin.  
  
Koorime: Literally 'Ice/snow maiden'  
Yuki Onna: See Koorime  
Hanyou: Halfbreed. (think Inuyasha)  
  
This came around because of a mental picture that haunted me, Ran as a vampire stalking Conan. Think I'm in a bit of a blood thirsty mood right now...  
  
The thing about where to drink blood is as accurate as I can remember. Learn all sorts of strange stuff late at night stocking books...  
  
The reference to Ran's ancestors having Koorime blood and not realising it comes from a legend of a Yuki no Onna and a fisherman named Minokichi. The Koorime froze his master one night during a snow storm, but spared Minokichi because of his young handsome looks, making him promise not to tell anyone about her.  
A while later, he meets a beautiful pale woman named Yuki, and ends up marrying her. Several years after this, he's foolish enough to make a comment to her that she reminds him of someone he once saw, the Yuki no Onna who froze his master to death.  
She gets furious and would kill him if it were not for their children. She disappears, leaving him to take care of their TEN children. ^^;;  
  
Sounds kinda like Ran's mom, ne? ^_^  
  
You can find the full story here:  
http://www.trussel.com/hearn/yuki.htm  
  
Song quote is for Ysabet, who threatened to sing the Beatles unless I put more of this series out. It worked, the Beatles scare me.  
  
Next chapter: Today, Hattori and Kazuha. 


	4. Shinigami Stories: Today Hattori Heiji

Today  
By Icka! M. Chif  
  
Today, While the blossom still clings to the vine  
I'll eat your strawberries, I'll drink your sweet wine.  
A million tomorrows shall all pass us by,   
For the joys that are known... Today.  
  
  
  
Today my life changed. Big time.  
  
I think I'd cheerfully kill Kudo right about now if it wasn't for the fact that the pipsqueak is already dead.   
  
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me back track today to this morning.   
  
It started out as a normal morning, aside from the fact that Kazuha was running late. Which is not a big deal. Sometimes I'm running late, sometimes she does, it all works out in the end. Just means that who ever is on time has something to bug the other with the rest of the day. But the next morning, it's forgotten.  
  
So I waited outside of her bedroom door, shouting at her to hurry up. People say we act like siblings a lot. They aren't far wrong as far as I'm concerned. We spend enough time at each other's houses that it would impossible to say which house I've spent more time at. There's been a few times when I've sworn that Mom was about ready to add a new bedroom to the house and formally adopt Kazuha as her daughter too.   
  
Kazuha for her part was running around inside of her room, frantically taking care of her morning ritual as I glanced at my watch for the nth time in the past five minutes. She was really late. I sensed an opportunity to tease her.  
  
"If you're not out by the count of 3, I'm going to throw you over my shoulder and carry you to school like that." I called. Of course, I had no intention of doing so, but it sounded good.  
  
"You wouldn't dare!" She sounded promptly outraged at the idea, which only made me grin.  
  
"One!"  
  
"Hattori!!!" You wouldn't believe how she can scream like that. No one else can quite seem to match it.   
  
"Two!"  
  
"Don't!"  
  
"Thre-!"   
  
Here's where several things happened at once. I started to turn the doorknob. Kazuha went to lock the door. The door flew open. I fell backwards, grabbing something long and furry on the way down. Kazuha screeched and landed on top of me.   
  
Kazuha, with her big emerald eyes set in the face of a feline.   
  
Insert stunned silence here.   
  
After that, things get a little blurry. I can remember Kazuha being angry, and tears springing up in her eyes, and her mother forcibly escorting me from the house, informing me all the while that I was no longer welcome in the house, or anywhere near Kazuha.   
  
Think that was a polite way of saying 'kiss off'.   
  
After that, I went to school. I think I made up some excuse about Kazuha not feeling well and not being able to make it in today. Other than that, my mind was pretty much on automatic reflex the rest of the day. Which, as anyone can tell you, is not a good thing. I kept trying to turn to Kazuha and comment to her about things... and she wasn't there.   
  
Which is more than a little unnerving. Once it sunk in that she wasn't there, the rest of the school day was spent swinging from sulky to down right angry. Sulking because she wasn't there and angry because she had never bothered to inform me of one very important fact, that I, in all my detective glory, had never figured out.  
  
My Girlfriend was a Cat.  
  
I said best friend there, right? Definitely not girlfriend. Best friend. Yeah. Best friend, Girl friend, they sound alike sometimes. Right?  
  
Anyway. I ended up skipping Kendo practice after school because I was in the mood to do some harm, and Kendo isn't about hurting other people. That may be an end result, but that's not what it's about. And in the mood I was in, I probably would end up hurting my sparring partner, which is something I didn't want to do.  
  
What I really needed to do was talk to somebody, maybe get some advice on this. I wasn't sure what to do, and Kazuha's phone had been disconnected. Out side of Kazuha, there's not many people I talk to. Or can talk to.   
  
And this was crazy enough that out side of Kazuha, most people would call the loony bin before they heard me out.   
  
Which is how I ended up calling Kudo. If there's anyone out there who can't complain about strangeness, it's Mr. 'Sudden Second Childhood' himself. Anyone who has that many murder cases following him around like a lost puppy has no room to talk about what is or is not normal.  
  
The conversation with Kudo ended up only adding to my confusion. First off, he wouldn't let me finish explaining what happened, abruptly cutting me off. Then he proceeded to make me promise not to tell anyone, like he already knew what had happened. Finally he told me that him and Neechan would be here by nightfall.  
  
The entire phone call took less than 2 minutes. Talk about freaky.  
  
It got even freakier Kudo called back.  
  
It was just a location, and a 'get your ass over there' message. Got to love Kudo's bluntness sometimes. Wasn't exactly sure how that was helping, but I went anyway.   
  
Was a good thing too.  
  
Kudo met me at the side of a walkway inside of a park between Kazuha's and my house. We often met there, and I thought I knew just about every inch of the park. Until he proved me wrong.   
  
He led me down a small pathway I'd never noticed before, into a grove of trees. We talked along the way. Not our usual 'I'm the better detective than you so ha-ha' banter, but more along the lines of 'this is dead serious, do you ever want to see Kazuha again' type of talk.   
  
I think it's also the first time that Kudo's ever given me goosebumps. Believe me, that's not easy to do. The odd part is that he didn't -do- anything to give me goosebumps, just talked.  
  
It was about the time that he remarked about how Kazuha's -Clan- had certain rules of conduct for if this sort of thing happened. Usually one of two things happened: They killed the person, or they swore them to secrecy and left. If the person told, they died. Horribly.   
  
Since nobody, myself included, really liked either idea. So he explained that I had a third option, an idea taken from a different clan. A test.  
  
Trial by combat.  
  
The whole situation nearly gave me the shivers. I had never really put much stock into the old stories, Kazuha's the superstitious one, not me, and this whole thing sounded like it was out of one of the old myths we'd learn about in grade school. I might have laughed it off if it wasn't for 2 things.  
  
It was Kudo who was telling me this, Mr. 'Only One Truth'.  
  
And he was dead serious. Deadly. He wasn't even mad but I still got the feeling that if I miss-stepped the situation, the phrase 'Looks could kill' would have a whole new meaning. I'd be dead before I hit the ground.   
  
But again, I'm getting ahead of myself.   
  
I agreed to the deal. It wasn't like I had much of a choice anyway, Kazuha and I have been friends for too many years for me just to turn and walk away. So Kudo offered me a shinnai, and explained that the challenger would meet me in the clearing at the end of the trail.   
  
I was figuring that I would end up facing a cat person like Kazuha, or maybe something else out of an old story. A Naga maybe, or even a Kumo. Boy was I wrong.  
  
Ran-neechan was waiting for me.  
  
Have I ever mentioned how big of a bastard Kudo is sometimes?   
  
Neechan smiled at me, saying something about the 2 of us sparring against each other, like it wasn't a big deal. To her, it wasn't. She didn't know what was going on.   
  
So I smiled back and bowed politely, playing along. Sometimes I have to wonder about Neechan and Kudo's relationship. He never tells her -anything-!  
  
We got into our respective fight stances, and started sparring. Easy punches, easy blocks, easy rolls, giving us a chance to adapt to fighting someone with a different style. It might have been fun if I hadn't been aware of our audience.   
  
Then I scraped my arm on a roll and everything changed. At first, it was small things, the attacks became fiercer, stronger. Then the scent of blood became stronger as the temperature appeared to drop. Everything just seemed to fade away, washed away in a haze of red.  
  
Until a voice cut through the fog.  
  
"Stop."  
  
And everything did.  
  
Both Neechan and I turned towards the sound of the voice and I'm pretty sure our faces mirrored each other's shock and confusion.   
  
Kudo and Kazuha were walking towards us. Well, Kazuha was walking anyway. Kudo was floating above the ground, a pair of bat wings spouting from his back flapping occasionally as he did so. His strangely glowing eyes and smirking fangs caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stand up. I think that was the first time I've ever truly been afraid of him. Every instinct in my body was screaming for me to run away, before it was too late.   
  
Practically the only thing that kept me from bolting was the fact that Kazuha was calmly walking next to him, like it was an everyday occurrence. Even if I wanted to run screaming, I couldn't just leave her there. So I held my ground and waited to see what would happen next.  
  
"See? I told you she was beautiful as a Yuki no Onna, Kazuha-neechan!" Kudo chirped, sounding disturbingly like a little kid, even as he fluttered around her like some sort of deranged deadly butterfly. Neechan just looked at him in confusion.  
  
"Yes she is." Kazuha agreed, a small smile on her cat face. "But I think I prefer Hattori's new look."  
  
It took a few moments for her statement to sink in. First of all, this was the first opportunity I'd had to look at Kazuha as a cat. Really look. And it's not bad looking at all. Second off, she was wearing a kimono. Kazuha in a kimono is a noteworthy event no matter what is going on. She doesn't wear them very often, which is unfortunate in my option.   
  
I looked down to try and figure out what she was talking about when I first caught sight of my skin. Now, it's always been dark, a trait from my grandfather. But now it was a deep dark red, darker than the blood drying on my arm.   
  
Kazuha offered me a mirror and I hesitantly took it. My face was still the same one I was used to seeing in the mirror every morning, and yet it wasn't. My eyes were a light yellow where they had been white before, crowned by a pair of thicker eyebrows. Slightly above and between them there was a slight curve, a black line on top of it that looked suspiciously like a closed eye in the middle of my forehead. Crowning the top of my forehead on either side were 2 bumps. They weren't quite formed enough to be horns, but they were bumps. When I went to touch them, I received another surprise, claws where I had had fingernails before.   
  
Which means I have to be realllllllly careful when scratching an itch while I have those.  
  
I also had fangs. But that wasn't as big of a deal. Everyone had fangs. Neko-Kazuha had long sharp fangs, the demented bat Kudo had fangs, even Ran-neechan who was sparkling silver and blue had fangs. So the fangs didn't bother me nearly as much as unexpectedly looking like some sort of gaijin devil.  
  
Kudo flew within arm's reach and I grabbed him by the collar, bringing him up nose to nose with me. "KUDO!!!"  
  
There was a sharp -zap!- and for a split second, it was Kudo Shin'ichi's face that was staring me in the eye instead of the smaller Conan face.   
  
Startled, I let him go and stumbled back a few steps, frozen grass from Neechan's attacks crunching under my feet. Kudo looked startled, and not a little guilty as he hovered in mid air, wide eyed and pale faced. I didn't quite understand until I glanced down and realised the there was a circle of grass a few feet wide in front of where I had been standing was completely dead. Dried, yellow brown stalks lay flat except for a dirt patch right in the middle of it in shape of a pair of adult sized feet.  
  
Neechan was the first one to break the stunned silence. "Could someone please explain what's going on here?" There was no anger in her voice, just a slightly puzzled tone as if she were a lost child.   
  
Kudo let out a breath and nodded, escorting us to a couple of picnic tables nearby. Kazuha linked her arm through mine as we walked side by side, occasionally brushing each other as we did so. It was soothing somehow, having her that close.   
  
Don't you dare pass that on to her, it'll go straight to her head and I'll never live it down.  
  
We all sat down on the tabletops, Kudo looking rather uncomfortable as he folded his wings up and began explaining how the myths we had grown up weren't exactly myths, and that he himself was a Shinigami, a Kami of death. Then he explained how the youkai and monsters of those myths had disguised themselves and lived along side ningen for centuries. Occasionally they would breed with the ningen creating hanyou that were usually un-aware of their dual ancestry, even generations later when the abilities would pop up again.  
  
He told us about Ran-neechan's awakening into Koorime abilities the previous month, when they were nearly hit by a car. Neechan looked horrified as he described what had happened that night, where she had drained him of both blood and energy. It took a few moments to assure her that it was alright, and that he didn't mind.   
  
I think there really is something wrong with Kudo's mind, besides being Shinigami. Either that or he really is that much head over heels for her. Either way, he's crazy.  
  
Once Neechan stopped looking so disgusted with her self, Kazuha began to explain her history. She was of the Okesa Clan, a family of cats with the ability to shape shift when they wanted to. As a kitten, the childless young Kazuha couple had taken care of her when she had been injured. In gratitude for their kindness, she had become their daughter for them.   
  
No one had found out until my blunder this morning. The trial Ran and I had fought in was both a ritual done by other Fushigi na Dobutsu as well as some Kami, for ningen to prove that they were worthy to stay with the non-ningen. In this case, Kudo had used it to see if Ran's transformation into a Yuki no Onna was a one time error, or if it was permanent.   
  
It also worked out to Kazuha's advantage. I couldn't very well be mad at her for not telling me that she was a cat if I never told her that I was part Oni. The fact that I hadn't realised that I was part Oni before this was insignificant, really.  
  
I think I'm still mad about not knowing. Definitely going to have to have a talk with Grandpa about this...   
  
We ended up talking a little bit, just random, everyday things that we would talk about normally anyway. There was a bit of a surreal feeling to it, knowing that the 4 of us weren't normal, and yet here we were, acting like it. Just a group of teenagers hanging out.  
  
Then Kudo had to ruin it by making a comment about seeing if they couldn't get me a studded club. Since I was only a quarter Oni, I wouldn't need a full metal bar. So I hit him over the head with the remains of the shinnai. Between my crushing the handle in my grip and Neechan accidentally freezing the blade, there really wasn't much left of it anyway.  
  
Ran decided to take that as her and Kudo's cue to leave. I get the feeling the two of them have a LOT to talk about. Namely about that sudden flash back to his normal self Kudo had. He's not gonna be happy with me the next time we see each other. Ah, well. Ask me if I care.  
  
Kazuha and I are still here waiting for me to relax enough to look human again. Kudo says that in time I'll be able to summon and dissipate the Oni strength consciously, but for the moment I'm rather comfortable with where I am. Kazuha's leaning against me, a rather contented look on her face as she purrs.   
  
She -says- that this doesn't change much between us, we'll still squabble like siblings like we always do. But I'm not completely dense. I may not know the myths and the legends as well as she does, but I do know what passing the test that she set out for me means. Eventually she and I will probably end up getting married because of this.   
  
Does that mean that we're dating now?  
  
I think I'll hold off on asking her that. For the moment, I happy just to sit back and muse about the changes brought about today.  
  
Fin.  
  
  
Whew... think this fic gets the record for most random research read.... (Myths, Kansai-ben, Kansai humour, Osaka-ben, Maneki neko, Sumiyoshi Taisha, Tsutenkaku Tower... o_O )   
Really wanna go to Osaka now!  
  
Neechan - Sister. Conan calls Ran 'Ran-neechan', Hattori often just calls her 'Neechan', which is much more casual.   
Fushigi na Dobutsu = Shape shifting animals. (foxes, cranes, monkeys, pigs, dogs, goats, etc, etc,)  
gaijin = Foreign  
Naga = Serpent monster  
Kumo = Spider spirit  
Ningen = Human  
Kami = Spirits, minor gods  
Neko = Cat =^.^=  
  
Okesa - Okesa was a black cat who gratitude for an old couple's kindness, became a geisha (who was very good at dancing) to make money . One day, a fisherman saw her in her true form, and she made him promise not to tell her secret.  
The next day, when he was ferrying a boat load of passengers, he told them all that the famous dancing geisha was actually a cat. Instantly, a large black cat came out of a cloud and killed him. (the passengers got away to safety).   
  
'Okesa' is also a form of dancing.  
  
Also found references to 'Hattatsuneko', which is a lucky cat that wears a kimono. You can get them at Sumiyoshi Taisha (famous Shino Shrine in Osaka) once a month. Local myth has it that your wish will be granted if you collected 48 of them over 4 years.   
(-I believe that Sumiyoshi Taisha is also the shrine that Hattori, Kazuha, Conan and Ran get their fortunes in the 3rd movie.)  
  
Odd fact as well: Maneki neko ('lucky cat' statues, you've probably seen them at Chinese food places. They're very distinctive with their raised paws and a bell around their neck.) come in various colours. Tri-colour (white with gold and black spots) is the most common. Black Maneki neko are supposed to be a ward against evil or misfortune. ^.^  
  
Oni - Come in many colours, the most common ones seem to be red, blue and black. (Hattori became a red one after the story of 'Aka Oni' and 'Ao Oni', Red and blue respectively, in which Aka Oni becomes friends with human children at the cost of his friendship with Ao Oni. Conan epsiode 38 is also called the 'Aka Oni Mura Fire Festive Murder Case')   
Horns, long fangs and a tiger skin around their waist are common signs. (Which is why Lum and her family from 'Urusei*Yatsura' wear tiger patterned clothing. This reference is a common one. Slayers Next and Flame of Recca also have minor references as well.) The third eye in the middle of the forehead was something I only found about half the time.  
In Buddhist Mytho, Oni guard the gates of Hell with large studded iron bars. Hence Conan's joke about not needed a full iron one.  
  
Anybody know what Kazuha's Father's name is? The sites that actually had him listed said that both he and Kazuha-chan's first name is 'Toyama'. *puzzled*  
  
Title thanks goes to Ysabet, who threatened to sing the Beatles. *shudder* (Not that! Anything but that! argggggghhhhh!!! -tho I did find a site that translated Beatles songs into Kansai-ben. *giggles*) Was on my 3rd version of the fic when she suggested 'Today' and *click* everything fell into place. ((MASSIVE GLOMPAGE))  
  
Um... I have no clue where the song at the top is from. My step-mom Gigi *hearts* used to sing it to all us kids before we fell asleep at night. Since the first and the last words are the same, you can sing it over and over, just take out one 'today'. I.E.: "-For the joys that are known... today, while the blossom-"   
Neat, huh?  
  
  
Next Story: Ran POV, 'Present'. 


	5. Shingami Stories: Present Mouri Ran

Sorry this is so late!!!  
  
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery.  
Today is a gift, that is why it is called the present.  
-anonymous  
  
Present  
By Icka! M. Chif  
  
Summer used to be my favourite time of the year.  
  
Now I'm not so sure.   
  
Just a few weeks ago, I revelled in the fact it was summer. The warm breezes, the sun shining above, the salty water of the beach... I loved it.   
  
And now... it seems odd. The heat is stifling, and I feel as if I'm going to fade away. Melt away like a snowman when spring finally arrives.   
  
The noisy air condition that I once disliked is now my best friend.  
  
Does this mean that winter is now my favourite time of year?  
  
Even as I'm perched here on the rooftop thinking, my hands are in front of me. Cupped inside of my palm is a small ice sculpture of a snowflake. I did it without thinking, a small reminder of what I really am.  
  
At one time, I was afraid of anything supernatural. Youkai, ghosts, anything that goes bump in the night would send me absolutely screaming.   
  
Now I am one of the things I feared. So are Kazuha-chan, Heiji-kun and Shin'ichi. And they're some of the nicest people I've ever known. What was once terrifying now has a familiar face.  
  
So many changes in such a little time. The past is no longer what I knew it to be and the future is a white fog before me. The only thing that's clear now is the now. The Present.  
  
I hold the ice up to the light and watch as the sun catches it, making it sparkle. It's pretty.   
  
A soft foot fall behind me causes me to turn. It's Shin'ichi, looking a bit startled to have been caught. It looks amusing, especially since he looks like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I smile at him, and he smiles back, a touch nervous.  
  
I never would have heard his approach before. Now my senses are almost supernatural, even though I still look like myself.  
  
"How are you doing?" He asks, his hands clasped idly behind his back. It's not an idle question on his part, making small talk. He's been worried about me ever since the night in Osaka. When I discovered that the world I had known was a bit more... wild than I had thought. Myself included.  
  
Shin'ichi has been afraid that I hate him. Now that I know to look past the glasses, it's easy for me to read him again. Like an old friend. Which he is. And more.   
  
"I'm doing fine." I assure him. He nods, not convinced, but willing to accept my words. It'll take time for both of us to get used to this, but I'm not going to worry about it. One minute, one second, one heartbeat at a time.  
  
"You're doing better at summoning ice." He comments, standing up on his toes so he can look out over the small fence to see the world below.  
  
I smile back. "I've had a good teacher." there's just a tone of teasing in my voice, not much, but enough to make him stare at me for open mouthed for a second before he blushes pink and turns back to the view before us.  
  
A memory drifts by of a former classmate of ours, Genji, who used to always freak out around Shin'ichi before he moved away. When pressed about it, Genji finally commented that he saw pink sakura blossoms whenever someone close to him was going to die. And he always saw Shin'ichi covered in sakura.   
  
At the time, Shin'ichi laughed, but didn't say anything. At the time, I wondered. Now I understand.  
  
"Why don't you relax?" I suggest. He's mentioned a few times that it requires concentration and energy to maintain his human appearance. And now that I know what he really looks, sometimes it feels almost strange seeing him as human. I occasionally find myself looking for fangs or pointed ears, which are never there.  
  
He shakes his head. "Don't have that kind of energy to spare." He says ruefully. It usually takes more energy for him to build his appeared back to human than for him just to maintain it. I also get the feeling he's hiding something from me.   
  
"Um... Ran?" Conan looked vaguely un-comfortable. Speaking of which...  
  
"Yes?" I smile at him. It doesn't matter how old he is, he's still cute when he's embarrassed.  
  
"There's a family gathering coming up in a few weeks." He says slowly, looking anywhere but at me. "Hattori and Kazuha are coming up, as well as a cousin of mine from Mom's side I haven't met but is supposed to be our age... There won't be many ningen, but I was wondering if you'd like to come as well."  
  
I smile at him, he's so cute when he's nervous. "I'd love to come." I agree.  
  
His whole face lights up, and for a second, it's like he's a small kid who just got the best present in the world. "Great! Oh, um... before I forget, Mom wanted me to give you something."  
  
He leans over and picked up a rather large, flattish box that I'm amazed I didn't see him bring with him. "This is for you." He says seriously. Well, seriously except for the merriment dancing in his dark blue eyes. "Go ahead and open it now, 'Kaasan's gonna want to know your reaction when I tell her you're coming."  
  
"Alright." I take the box from him, resting it on the ledge so I have a hand free to take off the lid. Shimmering pale blue material, almost iridescent, glimmers at me, the patter of silver and white snowflakes scattered across it. With trembling hands I reach out and touch it. The texture is soft to my finger tips, fine silk.   
  
Hesitantly, I pull the kimono from the box. Underneath is a darker obi, and ties, socks and everything else to match, all done in the snow and ice motive.   
  
"'Kaasan figured that if you're going to be in the company of youkai for the first time, you might as well look the part of a Yuki no Onna too." Conan explains, a slight smug smile on his face. "Welcome to the family, Ran."  
  
All I can do is smile back in return.  
  
Fin.  
  
Genji Hikaru is the main character from the first novel ever written, 'The Tale of Genji' by Lady Murasaki Shikibu. He sees sakura blossoms whenever someone close to him is about to die. (including himself)  
  
I first saw heard of the Tale of Genji in Kyoto, at The Costume Museum where they have re-constructed the castle and many of the cast in one quarter scale. It is absolutely gorgeous!!!  
They have a webpage here: http://www.iz2.or.jp/english/  
Also includes an over view of the story.  
  
The next story is 'Last Night', the Kaito Kid. 


	6. Shinigami Stories: Last Night Kuroba Ka...

Not last night, but the night before  
24 robbers came knocking at my door.  
I ran out, they ran in  
One hit me over the head with a rolling pin.  
-children's nursery rhyme.  
  
  
Last Night  
By Icka! M. Chif  
  
It feels good sometimes, to take a break. Take off the hat and cloak and let the wind brush thru my fur. It's like brushing the cobwebs out of your brain, only better because it's a nice sensation.   
  
And do I ever need the chance to relax without the guise of humanity right now. These are the times I'm envious of Dad. It's easier to lounge in your true form, stripped of illusions when you can just turn into a big fox. It's a lot harder when you look human, you just happen to have large white fox ears on the top of your head and a long fluffy tail. People look at you funny, even if you are Kid the Phantom Thief.   
  
Dad was a full Kitsune, white from head to tail with black highlights. Mom is a ningen. Dad sort of got in trouble for that. There's not many pure youko around, and theoretically a youkai-ningen marriage doesn't work. But some how they did it. They loved each other to pieces.  
  
And they had me. A hanyou.   
  
Once upon a time, hanyou were outcasts from both societies, neither youko nor ningen. But times have changed. As the ningen population has grown, the youko numbers have decreased. Now even hanyou are welcome in youko circles to help preserve their way of life.  
  
Which, since the majority of them have stopped with the random and senseless eating and killing of ningen, is a pretty peaceful one. It has to be.   
  
With the exception of the few rabble-rousers like me. Even if none of the ningen realise that I'm not one of them.   
  
You'd think that the ability to change my voice and appearance might be a clue, but they're not exactly known for being the brightest stars in the sky...   
  
Although sometimes, I can be just as stupid.  
  
Like last night. Typical heist, if you can call the Kid's heists 'typical'. But I was on my way out when it happened.   
  
I ran into Nakamori Aoko. Which, in and of it's self isn't all that strange. I see her every day at school after all. What was strange was what she was wearing.  
  
There ought to be a law against wearing a skirt that short.   
  
It's one thing to be Hakuba and get caught checking out the Inspector's daughter. It's another thing entirely to be dressed as a female and checking out the Inspector's daughter. He wasn't exactly pleased about that. However, Hakuba was the one who actually noticed that something was wrong with my features  
  
He did a double take, then calmly walked over and introduced himself as a detective on the case. "I think there's a bit of dirt on your face." He said politely and offering me a mirror.  
  
I glanced at my reflection and I realised that I had accidentally left my father's monocle on.  
  
Whoops.  
  
I laughed nervously and excused myself to go the bathroom. He decided to escort me. I decided to escape.   
  
Aoko just has that effect on me. She can almost always distract me from whatever I'm doing. She has ever since I was a small kit, just barely able to appear ningen full time and wander around on my own, and we met in front of the Clock Tower.  
  
Dad asked me just before he was killed what had drawn me to her. Offering people flowers is one thing, befriending someone like that is something completely different. I've helped out lots of people who are lonely, or just need a smile before without ever becoming their friends or even telling them my name.   
  
It took me a little while with my kit brain to figure it out. I finally told Dad it was because of her scent. She smelled like orchids. And I liked it.  
  
He just smiled at me and asked me how Mom smelled. She also smells like orchids.  
  
So did his mother, and my aunts on his side. All the female kitsune I have ever met smelled like orchids.   
  
But Aoko is ningen. Thru and thru.  
  
If it was just that, we probably wouldn't have stayed friends as long as we have. Over 10 years now and counting. Her scent may call to my kitsune side, but it's her fire that attracts my ningen side.   
  
It's whenever she smiles, or gets really mad, or has any sort of passionate emotion really. She doesn't hold anything back, and that fire shines like a beacon. She always could make me feel on top of the world just by smiling at me. Sometimes I wish I could turn into a cat and just bask in her glow. And maybe get my ears scratched. I have had a good scratch in years, since I was a kit...  
  
I'm getting distracted again. Anyway.  
  
I realised a few years ago the danger in this, about the time that I realised that Aoko wasn't just my friend, but she was female too.   
  
She's a ningen. I'm not completely ningen. Relationships like my parents had are few and far between. More often, when a youko is discovered by a ningen, the ningen is afraid. It's hard to be friends or have any sort of relationship when the other person is scared spitless of you.  
  
And I couldn't do that. I couldn't risk hurting her like that. So I began teasing her. Little things, like flipping her skirt and such. Not enough that she would stop being my friend, but enough to put a wall between us.   
  
It's worked. At least on her end. Every so often, like when she shows off that she's really a girl instead of hiding it under that bulky uniform, I'm thrown all off balance again.   
  
And it's dangerous.   
  
There's also the newly added factor that I'm the Phantom Thief her father is struggling so hard to capture. Even if by some miracle she accepted me as a hanyou, there is no way that she could ever accept that about me. She hates the Kid.  
  
I once tried to figure out how many other kitsune were in the district I was currently in. The answer was one, and they were on the subway going the opposite direction.  
  
Sometimes my whole life feels like that.   
  
But, for now at least, it's a fun ride. Aoko's my friend, Inspector Nakamori hates me with a passion and Hakuba is below me, looking rather lost and confused. I think I'll have some fun.  
  
I grab my hat and cape, casting the illusions that make me appear to be human. I could just change my shape like I normally do to hide them, but my tail is twitching in anticipation of some mischief and I don't feel like hiding it. The illusions cover me like a familiar second skin, and I'm off into the shadows, trailing the wannabe Sherlock Holmes.  
  
He notices my arrival fairly quickly, which is good, since I'm not doing too much to mask my presence. I snicker. "Hakuba..." I call, pitching my voice so that it echoes thru the alley.  
  
"Who's there?" He demands, casting about in the dim light.  
  
I grin. "Last night was funny, wasn't it?"  
  
To my surprise, he chuckles.  
  
Fin.  
  
Hanyou = Half breed (I.E. Inuyasha)  
Kitsune = Fox Spirit  
Ningen = Human  
Youko = Deamon (used a lot for Kitsune Kurama in Yu*Yu*Hakusho)  
  
This came from reading a lot of various stories about kitsunes.  
One common thread was that female kitsune smell like orchids. It's not a fact that's out right stated, but I figure 3 different myths on different sites can't be wrong. (co-worker caught that part in a rough draft of this. Boy, that was embarrassing...)  
  
A few things that didn't quite slide in about Kitsunes but helped shape the story:  
Kitsunes do their best to adapt themselves to who ever is around them (which would explain why he's a lot goofier around Nakamori, but more serious around Shin'ichi)  
Kitsunes are often associated with mysteriousness and weirdness. (fits, ne?) Foxes can also cast 'The Evil Eye' because of their strange eyes.  
They're also fond of wine, but loose the ablity to appear human when drunk. (explains why he didn't get drunk in the manga but Aoko does)  
  
The main myth this came from was the story of Kihei, who ran a tea shop and a kitsune disguised as a Samurai. The Kitusne forgot to transform his face into a human's leaving it a fox face. Kihei decides to have a little fun and offers him a basin of water to wash his face.  
The kitsune notices his reflection, and runs away.  
The next day when Kihei is gathering wood, he hears a voice in the woods calling his name. It's the fox. "Last night was pretty funny, wasn't it?" He asks.  
  
The story (it's very short) can be found here:  
http://home.clara.net/wabei/xlation/quilt/oldfoxes.htm  
  
Next Fic: Aoko POV, 'Midnight'. 


	7. Shinigami Stories: Midnight Nakamori Ao...

Note: The Full Moon lasts for 3 nights, not just one. Or at least that's what I've been taught... #^^#  
  
How now, Master Brook! Master Brook, the matter will be known to-night, or never.   
Be you in the Park about midnight, at Herne's oak, and you shall see wonders.  
-Falbrook in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act V, Scene I, line 6  
  
Midnight  
By Icka! M. Chif  
  
  
It was around midnight, on the first night of the full moon when I first saw him.   
  
I couldn't sleep for some reason, and feeling a bit restless, had opened my bedroom window to let some of the night air in. The allure of the moon had called to me, and I sat there watching the clouds and the moon light cast playful shadows over the city.   
  
A dancing shadow caught my eye, and I watched it, thinking it was some stray tanuki climbing over the rooftops. If it was a tanuki, I began to idly wonder if I should put some bread out for it at night, maybe make it a permanent night visitor.   
  
Then the clouds shifted, revealing the shadow in all its glory.   
  
At first I thought I was seeing things, a human, no, a teenage boy caper from rooftop to rooftop in some sort of bizarre jubilant dance. But no boy I've seen has ever had large pointed ears that twitched this way and that, nor a tail that moved with a joyful life of it's own.  
  
My first impulse was to believe that it was some sort of trick, or illusion. Then he paused, his arms stretched out as if to embrace the moon, the faintest sounds of exhilarated laughter echoing into my ears and I knew what he really was.   
  
A youko.   
  
I watched in amazement as he began to move again, continuing his mad-cap dance over the sleeping rooftops of the city. I watched until he disappeared out of sight, gone to where ever it is that youko go.   
  
My thoughts turned towards bed, and the morning and I finally climbed back into bed, pulling the covers up to my chin, a silly grin on my face. I wanted to tell Kaito, but he was gone until the weekend at a family reunion.   
  
Which was a pity. Being the son of a magician, he would probably be the only one who would believe me if I told someone.   
  
I decided not to tell anyone, and save it for when Kaitou came back. He'd probably even be able to tell me what kind of youko it was.  
  
~   
  
It was around midnight on the second night of the full moon, and I couldn't fall asleep again. I hadn't told any one of the previous night's experience, the memory somehow too precious to tell like school yard gossip.   
  
Once again, I opened the window and watched the interplay between clouds and moon. The night was calmer than the previous night, a bit warmer too. Part of me wanted to see if my visitor would appear again.   
  
Movement by the old tree fort that Kaito and I built when we were younger caught my attention, and I froze, hoping it was the youko again.   
  
I recognised the shadow as Kaito. I was equally disappointed and happy. It wasn't the youko, but if Kaito was back early, I could tell him about the youko I had seen.  
  
Then he stepped out of the tree's shadows and I realised that I had been mistaken.   
  
It was most definitely Kaito. I could recognise him anywhere.  
  
But he was also the youko I had seen. White ears I had never seen before twitched on the top of his head, one ear turned in my direction. His tail whipped around his legs as he crouched down, looking much like a cat going for a mouse. He quickly and silently moved forward, then sprang on an unsuspecting shadow.  
  
The shadow let out a squawk, and a small boy with large batwings took to the air. Kaitou laughed and gave chase, bounding over the rooftops, following the spectre of death. They were joined by a few other people, one of whom looked like it was a humanoid cat.  
  
I went to sleep feeling more than a little disturbed.  
  
The next morning I went to the library and read as many books on myths, ghost stories and as many kinds of youko as I could find.  
  
~  
  
On the third night of the full moon, I couldn't sleep yet again. Questions circled in my head and I finally gave up on sleep just before midnight and sat next to the window again.   
  
The night was breezy, with the scent of rain in the air. A storm was coming.   
  
With a fierce determination, I kept my eyes from the tree fort. I didn't want to see if he was there again.  
  
That lasted until I heard something move. I looked down anyway and saw Kaito profiled in the shadows again. He looked dressed up from what I could see, a white suit jacket that matched his ears and a tie. He appeared to be looking for something.   
  
He turned his head and I saw the shimmer of glass reflecting off of one eyes. It caught the moonlight, flashing at me like a monstrous glowing eye. For a brief moment, I was afraid. Then he turned his head away and stepped out into the light.  
  
The moonlight glowed off of his white outfit, almost making him look like a living moonbeam himself. A large white cape bustled out behind him, frolicking in the wind, his tail intermingling with it.   
  
Picked up a top hat that was laying next to the fence, and put it on, hiding his ears. Once again, he glanced up in my direction, a gentle expression his face.  
  
The light hit his monocle again and I realised I was looking at Kid the Phantom Thief.  
  
Who was a youko.  
  
Who was Kaito.   
  
My best friend and maybe something more.  
  
I went to bed shaking and tried very hard not to think or feel. I think it worked.  
  
~  
  
At midnight, the night after the full moons, there was no one outside my window. It was pouring rain, and impossible to see much. I was furious, but also a little grateful. I wanted to see Kaitou, but at the same time, I didn't.  
  
~  
  
It wasn't until midnight the next night that I heard something outside of my bedroom window again. At first I ignored it. I had had enough of fantasies in the moonlight. But then something started rapping on my window. Soft at first, then more insistently.  
  
Frustrated, and -knowing- I wouldn't be able to get some sleep until I knew what was going on, I stormed to my window, drew back the curtains and opened the glass. At first, nothing greeted me but the lights of the city. Then I looked up.  
  
The Kid looked down at me from the rooftop.  
  
"What do you want?" I growled, allowing the frustration I felt into my voice.   
  
He shrugged, a blank mask on his face.  
  
"What do you fear the most?" He asked.  
  
I stared at him, recognising the question. It had been a common theme in many of the ghost stories. It was a game, a challenge. If I answered wrong, he'd leave. and I realised that the thought scared me.   
  
My head drooped as I closed my eyes. "If I were a smart, or clever person..." I said slowly "I would say sweet buns, or gold, or some sort of treasure. But I'm not."  
  
"Aa." I could practically hear him nod. "So what do you fear the most then?"  
  
It took me several minutes before I could respond. I looked up and met his eyes. "You."  
  
Several things flickered behind his eyes, too fast for me to read. At the moment, I was scared of him. Sure, he was Kaito, my long time friend and companion. At the same time, I had just discovered there so many things I didn't know about him. Things that terrified me.   
  
But I also feared loosing him too. Despite the fact that I was trying hard not to shake, or start screaming at him at the top of my lungs, I didn't want him to leave me alone either.  
  
The game wasn't over yet. I still had my half to play. "What do you fear the most?" I asked, attempting to match his tone of nonchalance. I don't think it worked very well.  
  
He looked out over the sky, not looking at me. "You." He finally admitted.   
  
I smiled faintly. "Then I suppose we're stuck with each other, aren't we?" That was the way the game was played.  
  
"Yeah." He finally looked down and met my eyes. "I guess we are." He looked so nervous about it, and I realised at that moment that he was probably more scared of me and my reaction, then I was of him.   
  
I grinned at him. "Would you like to come in?" I offered, enjoying the way his eyes widen in surprise. It wasn't often that I got to knock him off balance.   
  
He scaled down the rooftop, hanging next to the window like a monkey. "Thanks for the offer, but I'd better not. It's late, and you should be asleep."  
  
I snorted. "And you shouldn't be?" The banter was comfortable. It had been years since he had snuck out of the house to talk to me at night and it felt good to do so again. And it felt nice that he was concerned about me.  
  
"I'm used to it." He grinned, like the Kid that everyone was familiar with. "You're not."  
  
"Yeah, well, there's a lot of things I'm getting used to." Youko playing tag on the rooftops, my best friend being my most hated enemy, seeing the night life in a whole new meaning.  
  
"Yeah." His expression sobered a bit. "We can talk... later. Preferably when it's day light."  
  
A yawn blind sided me, and I nodded. "Alright. But you're not getting out of it Kuroba Kaito Kid!" I warned. "I know where you live, I have a mop, and I'm not afraid to use it!"  
  
The threat was only mock serious. Just because we were postponing stuff didn't mean I wasn't going to eventually rip him a new one for lying to me like this.   
  
His face lit up with silent amusement. "Just so long as we're in agreement then."  
  
"We are." I nodded seriously.  
  
"Good. Then I'll wish you a good night, and a pleasant slumber, Ao-chan." He looked ready to push off and disappear into the night air.  
  
"Kaito?" I delayed him. "Can you do me a favour?"  
  
He paused. "Depends-?"  
  
I blushed. "Can I touch your ears?"  
  
The grin on face nearly threatened to break it in half. He looked like reckless Kaito I knew then, even with the monocle obscuring his face. He took off the hat and leaned forward so that his furry ears were within touching distance. "Alright."  
  
I blushed again and brushed them with cautious fingers. The fur was soft, much like the hair on the rest of his head, but much shorter. They were warm and twitched in response to my touch.   
  
"Thanks." I pulled my hands back.  
  
"You're welcome." I couldn't tell in the moonlight, but it appeared that he was blushing as he put his hat back on. He then smiled at me, a smile full of promises and mysteries, questions and answers, of different worlds and more night time visits. "I'll see you tomorrow, alright, Ao-chan?"  
  
I nodded, barely suppressing a shiver of excitement. I wasn't scared, more like elated. "I'll see you then, Kaito. Sleep well."  
  
"You too." He pushed off from the house, his glider snapping open and catching the breeze like a pair of cloth covered angel wings.   
  
I smiled and watched him sail out of sight, heading for his own house to sleep.  
  
I think midnight has just become my favourite time of day.  
  
Fin.  
  
  
Tankui = Raccoon dog, native to Japan. They're also known for their shape shifting ablities.  
  
I wasn't gonna write an Aoko fic for this series. Really. Especially not one where she finds out about Kitsune Kuroba Kaito Kid.  
Then this whapped me upside the head over half hour after I was -supposed- to be in bed and demanded to be written. Immediately if not sooner. An hour later, this was done. _;; Plus side, I think my typing speed has increased!  
  
Kinda feel that Aoko's 'voice' is off, but it is an AU. I guess... *scratches back of the head, embarrassed*  
  
One of the common themes in Japanese ghost stories were of a man (different one ever time) who would run across a group of spirits or a deamon. The deamon/s would engage the human in conversation, then ask the human what they were afraid of. The human would reply that they were terrified of sweets, gold, food or something of that nature. The human would then ask the deamon/s what they were afraid of, and they would answer back with the truth.   
The deamon/s would then pelt the human with what ever the human said they were afraid of and laugh. The human would run around, screaming and acting terrified while secretly gathering up whatever. The deamon/s would eventually catch on, and the clever human would then give the deamon/s what they said they were terrified of, thus scareing the deamon/s away.   
Personally, I always thought the deamon/s got the bum end of the deal. ^^;;  
  
'Youko' was used here instead of 'youkai' because Kurama, the Kitsune in Yu*Yu*Hakusho is usually referred to as a 'youko'.   
'Youkai' seems to be more of an Inuyasha thing... 


	8. Shinigami Stories: Outside Hakuba Saguru

Notes:   
O-bon: Japanese Buddist Festival, otherwise known as 'Feast/Festival of the Dead'. The souls of the dead ancestors return home for 3 days and prayers are said for anyone who has died in the past year. Fires and red lanterns are lit to guide the spirits here and back again.   
Depending on if you're using the lunar or solar calendar, it's held for a week between July and August.  
Celebrations are held in a vacant block, temple or square of each town. A temporary wooden town is built for it, where a taiko drummer plays. Dancing is held until dawn. It's one of the more significant festivals, and spent with family.   
More can be found here:   
  
  
More notes at the bottom.  
  
Outside   
by Icka! M. Chif  
i'm on the outside   
i'm looking in  
i can see through you  
see your true colours  
('outside' by Staind)   
  
  
  
There are 2 main kinds of people in this world.  
  
Law-abiding, and non law-abiding.  
  
There are 2 other kinds of people in this world too.  
  
Human, and non human.  
  
As long as the latter remain law abiding, I don't have a problem with them. If someone else wants to deal with them, that's their business, not mine.  
  
Mine deals with the non human, non law-abiding.  
  
Such as Kid the Phantom Thief.  
  
The police are after him for the theft of multiple miscellaneous jewels, paintings and other odd assorted objects. Including a baseball.   
  
Why a baseball? I have no clue. It may be the Kid's way of playing with us, just to make us wonder why in the world he stole a baseball. Lord knows that it's worked, if that is the case.  
  
The problem is that the Kid isn't always the Kid. The Kid is sometimes a high school student too. And I've got a sneaky suspicion who. He's a student in my class.  
  
Kuroba Kaito.  
  
Resident class clown, magician, honour student, and best friend of one Nakamori Aoko.   
  
Now Aoko is human. One hundred percent, completely and utterly human. She just also happens to be a bit on the special side too.   
  
Just like most people can't see a giant yurei head when it's staring them in the face, most people can't see the glow that burns around her like a flame. Heck, I doubt even Kuroba can see it, but even he's drawn to it, just like I am.   
  
And that is why I keep a close eye on her. Especially when it comes to Kuroba Kaito.  
  
Which is why I happened to 'casually' over hear a conversation between the two of them. A conversation where Kuroba invited Aoko to join him and some family members from -his father's side- to the O-bon festival this weekend. Emphasis on 'father's side' for some reason.   
  
To my shock and dismay, she readily agreed.   
  
The O-bon festival is traditionally spent with family. The insinuation that Aoko is close enough to be considered part of Kuroba's family is not one I care to entertain. The fact that she also agreed to joining him without consulting her father first is another fact I do not wish to think about.  
  
That my friends, is what we consider a warning signal.   
  
Which is why I've been following them. Much to both my relief and dismay, Kuroba has been conducting himself the entire time with behaviour I never would have expected to see due to his usual attitude in class.  
  
In layman's terms, he's behaving himself. Aoko hasn't hit him. Not even once.  
  
It's been rather disappointing, actually.   
  
The family that Kuroba wanted Aoko to meet was equally disappointing at first glance. A young girl, our age, dressed in formal clothing and holding the hand of a serious looking young boy in glasses. Which was most likely her younger brother.   
  
I was less than impressed. Aoko, on the other hand, seemed to be thrilled to meet them. The two girls immediately started chattering with each other like old friends, leaving the boys to roll their eyes and mutely follow along.  
  
It wasn't until I noticed how Kuroba reacted to his little 'cousin' that I started to be suspicious of anything. For one thing, when most people talk to a little kid, their attitude shifts, usually becoming more child-like themselves. Kuroba didn't, his body language spoke of the small boy as an equal. The boy's body language was similar, stiffer and more formal than most kids act, treating Kuroba as an equal as well, instead of an elder.   
  
Except for when Aoko turned to include him in the conversation. Suddenly the attitude pulled an about face, and he was a normal kid again. Until she turned back around. The other girl didn't seem to find anything odd about this at all. In fact, she reacted to the boy the same way Kuroba did.  
  
It was most unsettling.   
  
When the festival got crowed, full of dancing people and red lanterns, the group moved away from the tower in the middle of the square towards the hillsides. It was too early to start heading home, in fact the bonodori dancing would most last until very early in the morning.  
  
The small group shifted as they walked, Aoko and Kuroba leading again, with the other girl and the small boy following, the girl holding the boy's hand. But even that struck me as odd. It looked more like they were enjoying just being close to each other than the fact that the boy was about to run off or disappear.  
  
Again, suspicious behaviour.  
  
I followed them thru some forested trails, to a clearing far away from the revelries. They sat down and started talking amongst themselves. Small topics such as foods, movies, their favourite songs and what's happening in the latest manga series.  
  
Boring. They've been at this for 7 minutes and 23 seconds, precisely.  
  
There once was a story about a boy who was far more clever and smart than most wise men. So one day a general decided to test the boy by showing him a scroll with a picture of a tiger on it and asking the boy if he could catch the tiger for him. The boy replied yes, he could, and then requested a long and sturdy rope.   
  
The rope was brought to him and so he stood in front of the scroll, the rope in one hand and waited.  
  
"What are you waiting for?" The general asked.   
  
"I'm waiting for you to chase it out of the scroll." The boy replied. "How do you expect me to catch it of you don't get it out of the scroll first?"  
  
I'm beginning to feel the same way. How am I supposed to catch Kuroba as the Kid if he doesn't show his true colours?  
  
There's a lull in the conversation as Kuroba suddenly folds his hands and concentrates. I can feel the presence of a barrier going up and scramble to stay inside of it. Fortunately, they don't seem to notice my presence as I get closer.   
  
"There." Kuroba looks pleased with himself. "The Kekkei is up, no one will be able to see us now. If you two would like to relax, now is the time."  
  
"Thank you." There's a sudden blast of cold in the hot summer air as the girl suddenly sparkles with frost crystals. "This summer air was stifling me."  
  
"Just like having our own personal outdoor air conditioner." The small boy pipes up, grinning. She shoots him an irritated look.   
  
Aoko seems surprised, but not at all alarmed by this revelation. "Yuki no Onna." The other girl explains with a smile.  
  
Ice maiden. That would explain the cold.  
  
"Aren't you going to too?" She asked Kuroba, vaguely gesturing.   
  
He gives a shy smile, like he wasn't sure, and then blurs a bit. It only lasts a couple of seconds, but then he has a pair of white fox ears on the top of his head, and what looks like a tail beside him. Once again, Aoko doesn't seem surprised in the least. If nothing else, she looks happy about it.   
  
Damn. That means she already knows he's a youko.   
  
"We still have a few minutes." The boy comments, checking his watch. "If she's going to play with your ears, now's the time."  
  
I'm amused to see both Aoko and Kuroba blush at the comment, even as they stammer and protest.  
  
I'm not so amused to see Kuroba lay down next to her, his head resting against her leg, but not quite in her lap. She looks delighted and begins stroking his ears. He looks like he'd be purring from the way his tail is twitching back and forth like a cat's. The other girl and the boy just look amused and whisper softly to themselves.   
  
You'd think a group of youkai would have something better to do than just sit around and bask in each other's company. But that's just me.  
  
Minutes pass. 4 minutes and 32 seconds to be exact. Boring. Long enough for the moon to rise and the trees start to shimmer a bit with the frost.  
  
Then the boy starts to move, pulling a small briezer and incense out of his yukata sleeves, setting up a small fire between the circle of friends. I sigh, slightly disgusted with this whole venture. If all they're going to do is light a fire to welcome their family spirits, then I've wasted my time.  
  
Or so I think until the boy suddenly grows a large set of wings. They look like bat wings, darker than night and more sinister than fright. For the first time, I'm scared.  
  
I can handle spirits and all matter of youkai and bakemono. But this boy... feels like death himself. It's like I'm laying in my own grave.   
  
The boy hands his glasses to the other girl, then closes his eyes and concentrates on the fire, which is burning a friendly warm yellow. That changes suddenly as the fire flickers, sparks, and then begins to glow an un-earthly purple. The same colour purple that dances over the boy and his wings.   
  
The boy shifts as well, suddenly growing taller, as tall as Kuroba. He looks like Kuroba too, although more sharp-eyed and intelligent than the wild haired youko. The Yuki no Onna smiles, tears freezing in the corners of her eyes as she rises.   
  
"Shin'ichi." She whispers, rising to embrace him in a fierce hug. He returns it, equally possessive as his wings wrap around them. Kuroba and Aoko advert their eyes to give them some privacy.  
  
Now I recognise him as well. Shin'ichi Kudo, the teenage detective from Beika City. Also known for coming the closest to actually un-masking the Kid and his schemes, even though he prefers to solve murders.  
  
Shin'ichi steps back from the hug, taking the girl's hand, one wing still wrapped protectively around her. She moves away from him slightly, giving him room, but doesn't take her hand away. I don't know what the story is between those two, but they obviously care about each other. A lot.  
  
He closes his eyes, muttering something softly. In response, the fire burns higher and shadows begin to take shape in the light.  
  
And there's a man standing in the flames.  
  
Kuroba straightens and sits up, evidently unable to believe his eyes. Aoko looks wide-eyed in surprise as well. "Tousan!"  
  
The similarities between Kuroba and the apparition are too obvious to ignore. And the fact that the spectre was dressed as the Kaitou Kid. A much older Phantom Thief.   
  
Kuroba's father.  
  
"Kaito!" The spirit looks ecstatic to see his son, and the girl that is leaning so close to him. "Aoko!"  
  
Aoko looks like she's in shock. "How... how is this possible?"  
  
Shin'ichi laughs, wrapping his arms around the girl again. "It's O-bon!" He cheers, as if that explains it all.  
  
The girl in his arms gives him an irritated, if amused look. The 2 of them act like a newly married couple, even if he was a small boy just a few minutes ago. "Shin'ichi is a Shinigami, Aoko-chan." She explains, clarifying things. "He sees dead people. Among other things."  
  
"I owed Kaito one." Kudo smiled. "We'll talk later, I can only hold this for so long." He motions towards the figure in the firelight, who looks amused by the turn of events. Before Aoko or Kuroba can protest farther, the Shinigami and the Ice Maiden retreat a little bit to give their friends some privacy to talk to the late magician.   
  
"Nice outfit, Tousan." Kuroba grins. "But honestly, did it have to be white?"  
  
"Only villains wear black." His father retorts, an equally bright smirk on his face. "Would have preferred chartreuse?"  
  
Both Aoko and Kuroba blanch. I don't blame them. That is a scary thought.  
  
I focus my attention elsewhere. I may be a detective and a sneak, but there are some things that are too private for even me to butt into.   
  
Besides, I now I have seen with my own eyes proof that Kuroba really is the Kid. I may never be able to prove it, but for now I am content with the knowledge.  
  
And the thought of Kuroba in handcuffs makes me smile.   
  
Okay, so maybe it's closer to a leer.  
  
I watch Kudo and his girlfriend for a moment. They've got the whole 'Ill-fated lovers' thing going for them. If I was sentimental, I'd say it's rather sweet to watch them hold each other close and whisper endearments to each other. Or what looks like endearments. If it's one thing I've learned from being around Aoko and Kuroba, it's that nothing is quite what it looks like when it comes to affection.  
  
But since I'm not a sentimental fool, I'll just try not to yawn because now I'm bored.  
  
Aoko's practically glowing as she talks to Kuroba's father. She's obviously comfortable with him as she explains what looks to be an embarrassing story on Kuroba's part to the spectre with a wide grin and expressive hand gestures. Kuroba's grinning and blushing, obviously embarrassed by the story, but enjoying it too much to say anything.   
  
I'm rather surprised, actually. I hadn't realised that Aoko knew Kuroba's father. I don't think I've ever seen her so comfortable talking to an adult before, not even her father.   
  
Kudo calls Kuroba's name, a note of alarm in it. He and his girl friend are backing up, looking at something moving towards them in apprehension.   
  
I peer beyond the kekkei and curse myself for a fool. If I had been paying attention, I should have noticed it coming sooner. What ever it is has a vile feel to it, it's only purpose to destroy.   
  
It reaches the kekkei and shatters it easily, the barrier's propose was for concealment, not defence, and begins to zoom towards the Shinigami.   
  
I summon Watson and send my Shikijin towards the creature. Kuroba reacts as well, tossing out a handful of cards that turn into a cloud of white doves. His spirit birds and illusions cover the creature, both blinding and attacking it. The doves won't do much damage to it, they're more useful as messengers and trackers, but they do seem to slow it down a bit. Not much, but enough to give Watson a chance. The falcon dives, aiming for the cloud of white in a blur too quickly to be seen with the naked eye.  
  
The other girl screams as she and Kudo dive towards the ground, a flash of something mixing in with the doves and Watson's attack.   
  
Something hits the ground and the silence nearly echoes.  
  
Watson returns to my arm, looking rather pleased with himself as the cloud of doves either dissipate or return to Kuroba. The brazier was tipped over during the attack, and Kuroba's father is gone. Aoko has a firm grip on the back of Kuroba's coat, he stepped between her and the creature when Kudo had shouted the alarm.  
  
Somehow that makes me feel better. A little bitter, but better. At least I know he'll protect her.  
  
The Yuki no Onna sits up, her arms wrapped around the small child that was Kudo. Kudo's eyes are furious as he looks at the shattered remains of the creature, whether he's furious at the attack or at himself for not being able to defend against it is impossible to tell.  
  
"Is everyone alright?" Kuroba asks reaching back to wrap a protective arm around Aoko's shoulders. To my surprise, she doesn't argue the familiar treatment, and instead wraps an arm around him too, in a casual loose embrace.  
  
"I'm fine." Aoko assures him. "Ran?"  
  
"Fine." The Yuki no Onna assures her. "Shin'ichi?"  
  
Kudo remains tense a second longer, then lets out a sigh, the tension easy from his small body. "Yeah. I'm fine. I'm sorry about the mess, Kaito. You didn't even get a chance to talk to your father about the men who killed him."  
  
"Yeah." Kuroba lets out a regretful sigh of his own, staring at where the spirit of his father had been not a minute before. "Is he-?"  
  
"He's still here." Kudo assures him, looking frustrated with himself. "I'm sorry, I can't-"  
  
"It's alright." The thief cuts him off with an easy grin. "I got to see him again. That's all that really matters."  
  
"WE got to see him again." Aoko corrects with a bit of a tug. "And maybe... if you're willing... we can see him next year-?" She asks shyly.   
  
Both Kudo and his girlfriend nod, looking pleased. And the tension in the air between the two couples disappears.   
  
"Yeah. I'd like that." Kudo agrees.  
  
"Well, now that that's settled..." Kuroba rubs his hands together, grinning like the maniac I'm familiar with. "Since it is O-bon, ordinarily I'd say lets go join in the dancing. But, since Tousan is still around, and he was never one for tradition, why don't we move to a more private location and have ourselves a small party? I'll supply the entertainment if Ran-kun supplies the shaved ice!"  
  
The girls laugh, as was intended and they gather up the brazier and the incense. The guys are on edge the entire time, constantly looking around for more attacks. The girls seem to pick up on this and what little they had is packed up in no time at all.   
  
Kudo suddenly yawns, looking exhausted. The transformation between his larger form and the smaller must drain his resources incredibly. For a second there, he looks like a sleepy little kid.  
  
-With bat wings.  
  
Ran picks him up, resting his head on her shoulder, looking the part of a concerned older sister again. He muffles a protest, then is asleep. Kuroba and Aoko give her a 'aww, how cute' grin, and she blushes. Kuroba snickers, then closes his eyes for a moment and concentrates.   
  
If I wasn't watching and aware, I would have never recognised the small group when he opens his eyes again. Whatever other faults I may find in Kuroba, I do have to give him credit for casting some damn fine illusions. Gone are their inhuman features, in their place is just another group of friends or family, heading home to put the littlest one to sleep.  
  
Aoko and Ran smile at each other, chattering softly as they head down the trail, Aoko leading the way with sure steps. Kuroba follows, watching their backs with an amused look.   
  
Then he turns and looks right at me, like he knew I was there the entire time. I stare back at him in shock. He just grins and winks, inviting me to join them with a friendly toss of his head.   
  
I pause for a split second, then shake my head.  
  
He shrugs and waves, somehow expressing 'Maybe later' and 'Thanks for your help' in that one easy motion. Then he's gone, trotting down the path to spend O-bon with the ones he cares about.  
  
Watson makes a puzzled sound, or at least as puzzled as a sound as a falcon can make. I have to agree with him.   
  
I rise and brush myself off, removing leaves and twigs from my clothing and hair before wandering toward the creature that Watson had killed.  
  
It's ugly, what ever it was. Half of it is still solid and whole, the rest of it is shattered like so many pieces of fine china. Watson's attack shouldn't have shattered it as such. I pick up a stick and poke it.  
  
The remains are frozen. During the confusion, the Yuki no Onna froze it, then Watson hit it, smashing the brittle body and killing it. Or maybe it was dead before Watson hit it, that would account for the Shinigami's sudden transformation.  
  
What ever happened, it was an un-planned yet surprisingly well coordinated team effort. And it was most likely a good thing for whomever sent it that we did kill it. Shinikami, especially the more violent ones summoned for killing, often turned on their 'masters' when an assassination attempt failed. We did whomever it was a favour.  
  
Not a pleasant thought.  
  
And it had been most definitively aimed at Kudo. Or at least his larger form, there had been no sign of danger until he transformed. The Shinigami had obviously done something in the past to piss someone off. Someone powerful.  
  
Just as Kuroba's father had done something in the past to encure the wrath of someone powerful enough to kill a full blooded youko and make it look like an accident. Also not a pleasant thought.  
  
I pull out a plastic baggie from a pocket and wrap up a piece of the frozen corpse. Then put the sealed bag into a silk bag for protection. With a bit of luck, I might be able to track down whoever sent this.   
  
I am a detective after all. And it's my job to catch those that break the rules.  
  
Such as the Kaitou Kid, and those that are much, much worse than him.   
  
Something that is much easier to do if I watch, and wait, from the outside.  
  
-fin-  
  
Hakuba is long winded and uses big words... #^^# Still think he's a pervy kaitou fancier.  
  
Kekkai: Barrier/Sheild.   
Yukata: Summer lightweight Kimonos.  
Bonodori Dances: Traditional dances that mimic picking rice, threshing wheat, digging, etc, etc,. It's to calm and please the spirits of the dead on their visit.  
Shikijin/shikigami: Am onmyouji/scorcer's familiar or companion. The form and how powerful they are depends on the onmyouji.  
Onmyouji/Onmyo-ji/Onmyo-Shi: Person using onmyoujitsu, a form of Taoist yin-yang magic. Examples are Subaru & Seishirou from Tokyo Babylon/X and Tsuzuki from Yami no Matsuei.   
Most Onmyouji can only control one to two Shikijin at a time. Abe no Seimei, known as the most powerful Onmyouji ever was rumoured to be able to control 12 at one time.  
  
Yes, Kaito was using playing cards as ofudas. Makes sense, ne?  
  
The favour Shin'ichi owed Kuroba is because he hid Kaito's hat under Aoko's window in 'Midnight', thus resulting in Aoko finding out that Kuroba is the Kid. Which is a good thing/bad thing, seeing as she wasn't supposed to know.   
  
Heh. Poor Conan. Every time he changes back to Shin'ichi in my fics, something tries to kill him!!!  
  
Voices have decided that Shin'ichi and Kuroba are second cousins. Toichi, Kuroba's Dad and Shin'ichi's mom are cousins. So Shin'ichi and Kaito have the same Great-Grandparents. 


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